Another morning, another card!

Well everyone, maybe this is becoming a morning thing. One of my un-stated goals for myself (or just one that I forgot to write down in my 2012 goals) was to blog more often and more consistently. I'd love to try and write a post a day. I'm hoping that by blogging more, my writing quality will improve and make this blog more than just group breaks and Astros cards... :)

Speaking of group breaks, the boxes should be here by Friday at the latest. If I get them Friday, expect the first box to be posted later that afternoon/evening!

Speaking of Astros cards, here's another for you:

I'll be the first to admit, my vintage collection is sad. My biggest chunk of vintage is my 1978 complete set I'm working on, and after that it's a big drop off down to my vintage Astros collection.

That being said, this is one of my favorite vintage Astros cards. Larry Dierker holds a special place in my Astros fan memory. He was an announcer for as long as I can remember before he was surprisingly named the Astros manager before the 1997 season. Larry brought Houston three straight division titles to start his managing career and some rather disappointing playoff runs. He had no managing experience before he was hired, nor after he was fired in 2001 after a 4th division title in five years but yet another sweep out of the first round of the playoffs. It was an unpopular move at the time, and we wouldn't right the ship until 2004 when Phil Garner (another former Astro player) took the helm as manager.

However, this card is of course from his playing days, his rookie card at that. It's cool to see a VERY young Dierker right at the beginning of what would be a very productive pitching career. He had 106 complete games in his career, during a time where complete games were a LOT more ordinary than in today's game of specialized relief pitching. He is one of Houston's all time greats and a legend in my mind.

I really like this card, and I should say as well, I have no idea who Jim Beauchamp is or what he ever did in an Astros uniform. Apparently he had a pretty good minor league career!